ABSTRACT
Once we have made an inference, what do we do with it? Our inferred beliefs are guides to action that help us to get what we want and to avoid trouble. Less practically, we also sometimes infer simply because we want to learn more about the way the world is. Often, however, we are not satisfied to discover that something is the case: we want to know why. Thus our inferences may be used to provide explanations, and they may themselves be explained. The central question about our explanatory practices can be construed in several ways. We may ask what principles we use to distinguish between a good explanation, a bad explanation and no explanation at all. Or we may ask what relation is required between two things for one to count as an explanation of the other. We can also formulate the question in terms of the relationship between knowledge and understanding. Typically, someone who asks why something is the case already knows that it is the case. The person who asks why the sky is blue knows that it is blue, but does not yet understand why. The question about explanation can then be put this way: What has to be added to knowledge to yield understanding?
